


Beside The River Clyde

by excuezme



Category: Dunkirk (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon, M/M, Post canon, Pre Canon, song inspired fic, song title for the fic title gang pullup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 09:30:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18258554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/excuezme/pseuds/excuezme
Summary: they fell in love, it happened in Scotland, beside the river Clyde





	1. nice to meet ya

**Author's Note:**

> ya friendly neighbourhood gal up with a non-angsty fic for once aye

The year was 1932, in Scotland. Finn Collins was skipping rocks, sitting along the river bank doing nothing. He had free time, he didn’t know what to do with it other than to go out to the pub, or just roam around the city socializing. When he got exhausted, he came by the river to relax, and just think. Not many people came there, it was too secluded, but Collins preferred all the peace and quiet that his tiny little town could provide.

He was 20, he should’ve been married by now, or at least had a girlfriend. But his type of marriage wasn’t even legal, and he’d given up all hope of finding someone and was coming to face the reality that he was going to die alone. No one actually knew, except his parents and sister, who found it hard to face the fact at first, but had gradually become accepting nonetheless. He was pretty good at hiding it, and no one suspected a thing.

He was however getting tired of this lonely life, tired of being a lonely lad, while his friends were going off with lasses here and there. He claimed that he hadn’t found his ‘type’ yet which made him seem really fussy and particular. Sort of annoying to some, but at least they thought that he only liked girls, which was a blatant lie. He really stepped up his game at parties, halfheartedly snogging some lady in the corner while everyone went off with their respective partners into the night to go have a fun time.

What was not to hate in this lonely life of his, he couldn’t find love, he wasn’t _allowed_ to love, what was the point. Skipping rocks in the river and contemplating life was the only thing he found himself doing most of the time. The water was calming, and made him feel a sense of peace from the sheer chaos of the world behind him. What was left to do, but to draw, or write, or daydream about some attractive stranger. He was tired with his dull and boring life, and he just needed to vent it out to someone.

And as if the heavens heard his plea, he heard someone walking behind him, seemingly upto him. He turned to look, lo and behold, a man. And an attractive one.

“hello there” he said

“hiya” Collins replied. From his accent it didn’t seem like the man was from around here. Definitely not from Scotland, at least. He sat down beside Collins, making him slightly nervous, because he couldn’t believe his luck.

“yer no’ from around here, are ye?” he inquired.

“no, just came here for a trip. was getting bored sitting in London”

“oh” so he was from London. How lovely, he thought.

“how long are ye stayin?”

“ah, dunno. Till I get bored of this place, I suppose?” he chuckled at the last bit.

“ah, guess it’s pretty soon then?” he replied looking down at his pile of rocks.

After a few moments of silence, the man spoke.

“you come here often?”

“ye, tae get away from all the noise of the city. It’s nice and calm here, aye?”

“yes, indeed. I came here to relax too. Didn’t expect much quiet here, but life’s full of surprises, I guess” he said, pleased.

“that it is”

After a few more minutes of skipping rocks, and cracking a few one-liners and that, it started to become dusky and a bit too cold to sit outside.

“I should probably get going, then.” The man got up to leave, and Collins followed suit, quite involuntarily too. Dusted off his clothes, and as they were standing together, he noticed that he was a smidge taller than the Englishman. When they were standing face to face, in the fading sunlight, he noticed how pretty this man was. He was snapped out of it by  

“so it was nice meeting you, Mr ..?”

“Collins. Finn Collins” he stuttered. What was happening? He was losing his composure? This was not commonplace with Finn Collins, but it was very clearly happening to him right now.

“oh, Finn. Nice to meet you. my name is David Farrier.”

“pleased to meet ye.” After a moment of slight hesitation he followed up with

“so, where are ye stayin? I mean.. if, if ye donnae mind me askin’, tha’ is” he stammered. He didn’t know what possessed him to ask that, but he immediately regretted it, and chided his brain for acting so recklessly.

“oh no, not at all. Just a small room near the big tavern? You know the one, uh..”

“oh, ye. I know that one. Me house is jus’ round the corner there.”

“we could maybe get a drink there then? You can show me around. You look like a trusty local and seem nice enough”

“oh ye, no’ a problem. We should get goin’ then, ay?”

“aight”

After a brief walk, they reached the tavern, Collins showed him around there a bit, some of the town, and it looked beautiful during the night. He showed some of the old buildings, offices and that, and finally they went inside a pub to get a drink or two.

 

David Farrier was a man of a few words, most of the time his actions did the talking for him. But this random encounter with a friendly Scot had left him even more speechless. He came here, to Scotland to get off some of the boredom that had plagued his time there in London. He was not expecting a coincidental encounter with a cute, friendly Scot, and he was definitely not looking to fall in love in Scotland, of all places. What would happen when he had to leave? How would the two of them  deal with this? What a deep impact it would have of both of them, and how would they manage not being together for so long?

No. he was overthinking. There was no chance that this would become a reality, he told himself that the Scotsman was just being nice to him, and definitely not flirting, which, in and of itself, was a plain lie. But he had no way of knowing that, what a mess his life would be. All these questions and panicked thoughts were conveniently hidden by his cool and composed personality. Only he knew the huge internal battle he fought with himself everytime he came across a beautiful stranger, who was just a smidge nice to him.

 

They sat at the bar, and Collins ordered drinks for both of them to warm up a bit. They made some small talk, took a while to find out where they really clicked, but finally they found out that they had a keen interest in planes. Neither of them knew anyone who cared as much about planes as they did, and so the interest was left buried. But not anymore, it appeared. They could go on for hours about aerodynamics and whatnot, but time was not on their side, and they had to part ways soon

“you mind if I walk you home?” Farrier asked.

“you really don’t have to, but if you must, then come along!” he replied not thinking this would lead anywhere.

It didn’t. they walked over to Collin’s home, which was astonishingly close to where Farrier was staying.

“hey, thanks. I really enjoyed your company today”

“aye, no’ a problem”

They looked into each other’s eyes in the dim lamplight, outside, the effect almost hypnotic. What? Was this really happening? Collins felt himself leaning forwards, closer and closer, when they both snapped out of it at the same time somehow.

“ya, I should probably get going. Uh, goodnight, Finn” he said hastily, and turned around to start walking back to his place.

“night” Collins replied, in a sort of daze as he watched him practically run. Did he ruin this moment? Did he ruin a chance? No, surely that was not the case. He was never going to see the man again, this was going to feel like a dream tomorrow morning. In fact, I felt like a dream right now. If he pinched himself, he’d probably wake up. He did, but he didn’t wake up. He was still standing at his front door underneath the lamplight. He told himself that he’d drank too much, and he’d forget  all about this in the morning. But, even if this was a dream, he wished he could live in this forever.


	2. we just met a day ago but i'm in love with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're gonna be real happy reading this chapter i promise ;)

That night, neither of them got much sleep, perhaps because both of them were overthinking a lot, but fell asleep thinking of each other.

Farrier had made up his mind that he would go and visit, and perhaps give the man a little gift for his time as a ‘thank you’. that would definitely be the best thing to do. in the morning, he went out, roamed around for the better part of the morning and afternoon, scouring shops for souvenirs or anything plane related.

He finally found a place, a little shop nestled in a corner, all cozy and warm, but overshadowed by many bigger businesses. It was a peculiar little place, delicate trinkets seemed to be floating inside, through the slightly tinted glass on the oak door. The wood seemed a bit old and aged, but it added to the mystery and ambiance of the place. He liked it, even though the place seemed a wee bit off. There was _something_ but he couldn’t quite place a finger on it. He wondered if the place really was enchanted, or was he simply in love.

He entered, and behind the counter was a young man, in his 20’s, with bright eyes, and a mischievous smile. He seemed happy to help, and soon he bought a little plane pin, paid for it and left, then bought a bottle of wine because you know, why not. That was ought to please the Scot, it was absolutely splendid.

He went back to his room and tried to wrap it up as best as he could, because this was _important_. He realized that he was doing a lot more than needed for a simple thank you present, he was putting his heart and soul into it, to give it to a complete stranger. This was rather strange, not very common at all, was he doing this to please? Or was it just out of courtesy? There was no answering that question. All he knew was that he had picked the perfect presents, and that Collins would love it, from what he got to know about him in their last meeting. He was looking forward to meeting him again, but he didn’t want to seem desperate. So he waited for evening, rather impatiently too, and when it arrived he took the things and headed to the river bank, where he would most probably be. If not, he could drop by his house.

Well, he went to the exact place he had met Collins the other day, and saw him sitting there just like yesterday. He was sat there, thinking of what almost happened yesterday night, the whole latter part of the day, actually.

“oh, hey! I was expecting to meet you here again” he said approaching Collins.

“oh, hiya!”

“I got something for you, if you don’t mind..” he said shyly, sitting down beside the blond and setting the package between them.

“oh? Ye really didn’t have-“

“no, no I want you to open it, and keep it. As a thank you gift, for yesterday.”

“oh, that’s sweet” he said, and proceeded to open it slowly.

The light was hanging low over the horizon, barely still illuminating the surroundings. Heavenly shades of night were barely starting to fall, purple coloured curtains starting to mark the end of the day, a soft ambiance settling over the surroundings, the sound of the steady flow of the river, somewhere a bird started to sing.

“oh? This is amazin’! I cannae believe this!” Collins practically squealed with happiness. A plane pin? How thoughtful! This was hands down, the most adorable thing anyone had ever done for him. What did he do to deserve this? But he took a moment to thank whoever it was that made this happen, it made him the happiest man in the world. Who could have thought that a gesture as small as this would have such a deep Impact on his person? This must be a dream again, and he expected to wake up any moment now.

He didn’t. it was real, and it was happening. He couldn’t believe his luck, after what almost happened last night, he didn’t expect to see him ever again, yet here he was, with a fucking plane pin and a bottle of obviously expensive wine. Was this going somewhere? Because it appeared that It was. Why else would he come back, much less with _presents._ surely he wasn’t hallucinating or going insane because of being alone for so goddamn long. Hopefully.

Farrier watched Collins’ eyes light up as he uncovered the pin, a beautiful smile on his face. he looked almost ethereal. So happy and pure, he wished he could be as happy as the blond. Perhaps he _would_ be if he had the Scot in his life. How could a human being be this perfect? Everything about the lad, his voice, his eyes, his lips, everything, was just _so endearing_ , what _wouldn’t_ he do to keep him for the rest of his life. He just seemed to radiate so much good energy, so much innocence, it was just impossible. He had only known Collins for a day but if anything happened to the lad, he would kill everyone and himself.

He just sat there looking at the blond boy, taking in every bit of his person as he could in the fading light. This wasn’t going to be the last time he’d be seeing him, that was for sure, but if it was, he wanted to die remembering what an angel looked like.

Collins was trying to fasten the pin on his jacket, he was still figuring it out.

“you need help with that?”

“I think so”

“yeah, Let me get that” he said softly, as they both turned to face each other, and shifted a bit closer.

Farrier held the collar and tugged it ever so slightly, prompting him to come closer yet. They were now actually, dangerously close, so close they could hear each other breathing, as well as _feel_ it. Both of them were doing their level best to breathe normally, thought the heartbeats were at a million miles an hour.

Concentrate on the pin, _concentrate on the fucking pin, you idiot_

_Look somewhere, don’t stare at his hands like an idiot look somewhere else!_

Oh, the thoughts, thoughts, and just… _thoughts_.

After what felt like hours, the pin was fastened, he finally looked up, looked at the scot, who too was looking at him with beautiful baby blue eyes. the eye contact was intense, but not very long. It was _now_ or _in a while_ for both of them, they couldn’t miss this chance, rather didn't want to wait till later. now would be the best option, and so impulse was acted upon, without thinking about the repercussions (not that there would be any negative ones).

It was as if everything was moving in slow motion; The river, the evening, the world, and everything, as their lips finally touched in gentle desperation, it felt as if a weight had been lifted, as Collins felt a thumb trail over his cheekbone, softly, ever so softly, reveling in the feeling of the other's warm skin, realizing that this was reality, and not another dream. the feeling was otherworldly, neither of them could recall the last time it had felt to good, felt so  _right._

too soon Farrier pulled away, hesitating for a bit. "i- i'm- " he could barely speak now, and was cut off by Collins, who went in again, relishing the feeling. it was slower this time, they were taking time to explore each other's boundaries, as a hand trailed along Collins' face and made its way to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, oh so close. Collins melted at the touch, could feel his knees buckle even though he was sitting down. both of them could feel the realness, the absolute fact that this was happening, could feel the satisfaction in their bones. it was _illegal_ , but it felt so _right_. 

they sat there, completely lost. Eyes closed, heart beating, instincts taking over, and right now there was nothing to worry about. Not the world behind them, not the looming threat of war, nothing. Nothing even mattered anymore, but each other, hidden away from the rest of the world, in their own little bubble; as the day drew to a close, the birdsong ceased, and the only sound left was of the comforting, steady flow of the river Clyde. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't mind me i was just channeling my affection and love for my sweet baby boy Collins in this. my love for this character in enormous and my heart cannot take it. i just love him too much. i love him a whole fucking goddamn lot. i'm gonna cry he's just sfjhdjhjhdjiu my BOY.  
> i know this is cliche, cheesy, historically inaccurate, yada yada, I KNOW but i just want a universe where they can FUCKING LOVE EACHOTHER straightaway. and my thirsty ass also needed this so you're gonna get it whether you like it or not.  
> p.s. who else feels like he pretended to not know how to fasten the pin just so he could use some help ;)

**Author's Note:**

> so i hope you liked this chapter. i don't know about an upload schedule, i just get random bursts of motivation to write sometimes, so expect this updated every other day or after two thousand years. :D


End file.
